Rules
by Bookworm Gal
Summary: There are rules to being a genie. We know this. But how does Genie feel about them? Is he happy that his past masters were limited in what they could ask for or does he hate his limitations?


**I loved "Aladdin" from the first time I watched it. I am and always will be a Disney girl, but "Aladdin" is something special. Its sequel, "Return of Jafar," was also a good movie, which is a pleasant surprise. ****Many sequels are a real let down (As was the case of "Aladdin and the King of Thieves." It was good, but not as good as it could have been) and it had one of my two favorite characters as a good guy now. And I ended up watching the television show for quite a while (before Disney channel kind of died…)**

**I really like Iago and Genie. They are my favorite characters. I love it when there is a change of heart, like Iago in "Return of Jafar." And everyone loves Genie because he is GENIE!**

**The thing is, though, I feel terrible for the magical members of the team. Not only did they end up staying in the Cave of Wonders for thousands of years, there is just a really sad fact that is rarely brought up. I figured that I might as well expand my fan fiction categories with this idea that's been bouncing around my head forever. As told by the blue guy himself.**

Rules

I know the rules. I know them better than anyone. I should since I'm the one that is bound by the rules. The limitations. And most of the time, I am okay with them. They kept me from doing things. Many things that would be completely unforgivable.

Three wishes, no more and no less. No wishing for more wishes either. I could live with that. True, it limited how long I could be out of my lamp (Itty bitty living space is an understatement. You try being crammed in there for a few centuries and you'd be obsessed with having as much freedom of movement you can), but it also limited how much damage which ever human happened to get hold of the lamp _this_ time. Some of their wishes are just insane, even by my standards (Who would want to have a goose that lays golden eggs? I mean, your finances could decide to fly south for the winter at any time), but others were just insanely cruel. Which leads to the next rule…

I can't kill anyone. Good rule. Great rule, even. Trust me, if that psychopath Jafar could have used phenomenal cosmic power to kill his enemies, there would be lots of dead bodies around (from my buddy Al to the Sultan to whoever twisted that guy's beard that tightly that it _stayed_ curly). Not to mention a certain loud mouth parrot who'd be a crispy little corpse after his "hero" moment. I can live with not killing people. I'm too nice to ever be that heartless, even if some of my old masters would have loved to knock off a few people magically.

Not Aladdin, though. He's different. He's not the type to hurt people (or animals or magical beings) just because he could or that it would make things easier. Al really has a heart of gold, a diamond in the rough, and all those treasure-related metaphors that people throw around needlessly. He's the first one that ever asked me what I might want. He saw me as a real person and that I was more than just a slave who could give him his heart's desire. Trust me, that kind of thing doesn't happen as often as you'd think. More often, the lamp usually ends up in the hands of some greedy, short-sighted sniveling loser who just wants to get rich, get famous, and gain everything that he envies from others (and they usually don't have two brain cells to rub together). I mean, he gave up a (nearly) limitless wish to _free_ me. Not just said he would, but actually did it in the end. That makes him special. My best friend in the world.

True, I left the palace as soon as I gained my freedom. I wanted to see the world, explore, have fun, and do everything I never got the chance to. Besides, Al and Jasmine deserved a chance to get to know each other better (without the palace guards, the whole "Prince Ali" masquerade, and a crazed vizier-turned-sorcerer-turned-genie intruding on them). But I came back. I missed them too much and they _are_ such a sweet couple. Which leads to the next important rule…

I can't make anyone fall in love. Jafar was a _little_ ticked off about that one. The creepy guy wanted Jasmine as his bride and she really didn't want to be near him (I don't know why since he had so much to offer: age, looks, and a _charming_ personality. Wow… Iago has influenced me too much. Look at all that sarcasm). Besides, she was already in love. Anyone could see that. She and Al were made for one another. No magic needed for that pair.

Of course, Jafar didn't want her to love him because he loved her. He just wanted to strengthen his political power over the kingdom and because she made a lovely trophy wife. She would have been an ornament on his arm, nothing more. It's times like that where the rules really protect me from doing things I'd regret for as long as I live. I knew I couldn't make the princess fall for Jafar. Which is why it startled me so strongly when she started flirting with the sultan-sorcerer. But she was only doing it to give Al the chance he needed. That's true love: kissing a creep to keep your loved one safe.

Of course, it took forever to get them married, but all of us knew it was coming. Me, Carpet, Abu, and Iago kept waiting for the big day. Fortunately or unfortunately, the wedding itself ended up being interrupted by his father. Still, Aladdin ended up with his true love and knowing his father. I couldn't be happier about that.

Yes, the first three rules are good ones. I accept those limitations and even_ if_ my powers aren't what they used to be (let's call them semi-phenomenal, nearly-cosmic), those rules are still in place. Except, of course, the three wishes things. I don't have to do anything I don't want to and I can help my friends as much as I want, within reason. Overall, things have improved since I had my lamp rubbed in the collapsed Cave of Wonders.

But the last rule… I hate it now. I wish there was some way to twist it, bend it, _break_ it. I wonder if I could change things if I had enough time…

Time. Funniest thing. Time is so elastic. Ten thousand years stuck in a lamp in a cave, and each moment lasts forever. Now, with freedom and friends to enjoy and spend time with, the years, the _decades_, seem to pass too quickly. This precious time is going too fast. And I can't stop the inevitable. Because of that stupid rule, because of a stupid limitation, I know that someday it'll all be gone.

It used to be that I wouldn't have time to get attached to anyone. I went through masters like sand through an hourglass: gone before I could care. Each time I was summoned from my lamp, I would emerge on a new world. Chances were, anyone I met before would be dead or extremely old. Carpet, a magical being like me and yet different in so many ways, remained as unchanging as ever. The two of us remain the same through the centuries. We were constant (an ironic choice of words considering my continuous shape-shifting). Anything else could change before I noticed. I never grew as close to anyone as I did with Al and the rest. They're special. But Carpet and I know what the risk is to do that. To be their friends.

They age. Aladdin, Jasmine, Abu, Iago, and even the Sultan are mortal. They age, they grow old, they change, and I know what that means. I knew that time will affect them as it never will me. Carpet and I could see it happening early on in our association with them. But as painful as it would be to stand by as they grow old and weaker, neither of us could leave. Beings of magic like us have all the time in the world. Our friends don't. The time we have with them is limited and I wouldn't trade it for anything.

In the end, I knew what would happen. Unless something happened unexpectedly (considering what kind of life Al leads, anything is a possibility), they would slowly be lost to me. I would lose my friends to a force I cannot affect. Because of that last rule. It will keep them away from me and all the magic I possess won't bring them back.

The final rule is the hardest to accept. Granted, some of the masters just wanted me to bend this rule for some obscure reason that would benefit them. But some masters, so pleading and desperate, begged me to break that rule. All they wanted was something so simple in their opinion. Some of they would have agreed to free me in exchange for the wish. It was hard to deny them that selfless wish, when all they wanted was not even for them. I hated those cases when they would give anything for just one thing. And now, I see why they were so desperate.

I cannot bring people back from the dead.


End file.
